Malaria Control

Project Title: Equatorial Guinea Malaria Vaccine Initiative (EGMVI)

The Government of Equatorial Guinea, Marathon Oil, Noble Energy, and AMPCO awarded MCDI funds to manage three clinical trials of a Plasmodium falciparum malaria vaccine candidate (PfSPZ Vaccine) in Equatorial Guinea. The EGMVI's aim is to use mass vaccination to eliminate malaria from a highly endemic setting, following the implementation of comprehensive malaria control measures on Bioko Island since 2004. EGMVI partners include vaccine developer Sanaria, Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) of Tanzania, Swiss Tropical Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Equatorial Guinea.

From 2012 to 2014, MCDI laid the groundwork for a series of clinical trials by recruiting and helping to train an Equatoguinean team. MCDI also helped to establish and build the capacity of Equatorial Guinea's first ever national ethics committee. Following successful trial results in the US, Germany, Tanzania, and other sites, by January 2016 a small-scale clinical trial was completed with 33 Equatoguinean adult male volunteers. This first trial collected data on the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of Sanaria's PfSPZ Vaccine in Equatoguinean adults.

The third stage of the EGMVI, currently being carried out through December 31, 2018, entails the conduct of two more studies to test the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of Sanaria's PfSPZ Vaccine as well as Sanaria's PfSPZ-CVac approach in a broader cross-section of the Equatoguinean population. This is being done through additional age escalation, de-escalation, and dose-varying clinical trials. Pending the success of the PfSPZ Vaccine and/or the PfSPZ-CVac vaccine approach, including the US FDA's licensure of a vaccine for commercial use, the EGMVI plans to run a mass-vaccination campaign following Stage III of the EGMVI to demonstrate the product's applicability in elimination campaigns.